The Lone Wolf
by LanceSennin
Summary: Naruto has been banished from the Leaf Village at a very young age. While he is wandering through the lands, he crosses paths with Orochimaru, who takes him to the Sound Village for his "experiments". When something goes horribly wrong with his own self along the way, Naruto vows to have his revenge no matter what. Rated M for gore, language, violence, and possible lemons.
1. Prologue

"_You're going to grow up… find a girl and have a family… I wish I could be there to see it…"_

"_Your mother… loves you. I… love you… live a happy life, my son…"_

"_Naruto… we love you!"_

_"Kyuubi… it's all up to you now…"_

_"Don't hide it from him…"_

* * *

"_What's with all the people here, jii-chan? Is it a party?"_

"_Forgive me, my boy… I tried my best, but it seems I am too weak… despite being the Hokage…"_

"_Jii-chan… you're not making any sense…"_

"_All of his clothes belongings have been gathered, Hokage-sama. All that's left is —"_

"_I already know. Don't remind me."_

"_Wait, I get it! We're going on a camping trip, aren't we?"_

"_If only it was that simple, Naruto."_

* * *

"_Uzumaki Naruto, you are hereby banished from the Hidden Leaf Village for an undisclosed time."_

"_W-What?"_

"_Your time in this village has come to an end for now. Whether you can return or not, I do not know…"_

"_Jii-chan… w-why?"_

"_Believe me, Naruto. It was not my decision to make… I wanted you to live your life here, and perhaps take my place as the Hokage one day. But it seems… life doesn't go the way you want it to be at times."_

"_But… we'll see each other again… right, Jii-chan?"_

"_I hope so, my boy. For now… take care of yourself. Get strong and be proud of what you've become. In time, there might be a way to get you back in the village… I'll see to it that it happens."_

"_That's… that's all I needed to hear, Jii-chan!"_

_"Oh, Naruto…"_

* * *

"_Get lost, demon!"_

"_Go rot in hell!"_

"_The little shit deserves it!"_

"_I would've killed him if I had the chance!"_

_"What did I ever do to them…"_

* * *

"_Listen, blondie. I'm not supposed to do this, but here. Take it and get out of here. Find a small village and settle there, do a few jobs, or whatever. Just stay alive"_

"_What's this?"_

"_That pouch contains about a quarter of my savings from missions. It should help you survive out there, blondie."_

"_B-But I can't take this! It's yours!"_

"_Blondie, it's a dangerous world outside the village, okay? I learned that the hard way when I was at your age. If you want to survive out there, you're gonna need money in your pocket."_

"_Why are you doing this? A-Aren't you afraid of me? L-Like the other villagers?"_

"_Me? Afraid of you? Please, I'm totally capable of handling myself!"_

"_..."_

"_Well, in all seriousness, I'm not afraid of you. I'm actually like you in a way, because people both fear and make fun of me when I was a little brat. I know what it's like to be shunned by the village I love. But… unlike you, I was never banished and I still lived my life like a normal girl."_

"_Wow… you're so cool, onee-san! I wish I could be like you!"_

"_S-Shut up, blondie. Anyway, you should get going. My fellow ANBU are gonna wonder where I am if I stay here any longer."_

"_Can I know your name at least? That way, when I come back I can —"_

_*chu*_

"_EH?!"_

"_Name's Anko Mitarashi, blondie. And I already know who you are, Naruto Uzumaki, so don't bother introducing yourself. See you until then!"_

"_W-W-W-W-What was that for?!"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You k-k-kissed me!"_

"_Heh, consider it a good luck charm~ See ya!"_

"_Huh?"_

* * *

"_W-Who are you, mister?"_

"_Oh, you poor soul… nobody should be leaving a little kid like you out here… you could be killed, for all you know…"_

"_A-Are you going to help me?"_

"_Kukuku, perhaps I will… but first, you will have to tell me who you are… and how you ended up here."_

"_My name's Naruto Uzumaki… I'm a… f-former citizen of Konoha… they banished me from the village, but… I don't really know why… they said I was a demon? But I don't really get what they're trying to say…"_

"_Oh my, this is interesting news from that village… please continue, little boy…"_

"_It's been a few days since that happened and… some guys took all the money I have left earlier… now I'm just looking for a place with water since I'm really thirsty."_

"_This is interesting indeed… I've never thought that Sensei would be stupid enough to let the village's jinchuuriki roam the Land of Fire by himself…"_

"_Oi, why are you talking to yourself? So are you going to help me or not? I'm losing more water here…"_

"_Very well, Naruto Uzumaki. If you come with me to my village, I'll help you."_

"_All right! Thanks, uh… snake-looking… mister?"_

"_Kukukuku, just call me… Orochimaru."_

"_Orochimaru… sounds awesome, I like it! So where is your village?"_

"_Follow me and you'll see for yourself, brat."_

* * *

"_I guess we're going to be roommates from now on, aren't we?"_

"_You betcha!"_

"_Right!"_

"_Yep!"_

"_I don't care."_

"_Whatever, shit-face."_

"_I'm excited!"_

"_What about the others over there? They look scared for some reason…"_

"_No idea… but I think I heard them saying something about being doomed?"_

* * *

"_Tayuya! Take Guren and get out of here while you can! Orochimaru's coming back for the rest of us!"_

"_You dickheads! Just because it's ladies first doesn't mean you have to act like heroes! We're getting out of here alive, got that?!"_

"_Tayuya, if you stay here any longer, Naruto's sacrifice will be for nothing. He's probably been injected with the virus as of now, but do you think he'll be happy when he finds out that the two of you died because you didn't take your only chance to escape. He practically gave up his life just to get the keys to both your cells."_

"_Don't you lecture me on what to do, scarface! Who cares what that blonde idiot thinks? I'll do what I want!"_

"_I can hear footsteps! Near the end of the hallway!"_

"_Tayuya, come on! We'll be caught too if we stay here any longer!"_

"_No, I can get this stupid cell to open! Just… a little… pull…"_

"_I can see his shadow!"_

"_Hurry, you two!"_

"_For once in your pathetic life, Tayuya! Just listen to what others tell you to do! Get out of here!"_

"_..."_

"_..."_

"_..."_

"_Urgh, fine! Goddamn pieces of shit… act like heroes for all I care!"_

"_Come on, if we could get to the other end of this hallway, we might see the exit…"_

"_Shut up…"_

* * *

"_Guys! W-Where —?"_

"_They got away, Uzumaki. You don't have to worry. You saved their lives from a horrible fate."_

"_Way to go, dumbass… those are surely some words of wisdom from your mouth… do you even have any idea on what's happening right now?"_

"_Of course I do… if you only know, I'm doing it to at least make it less painful for him."_

"_Hey… are you two talking about me?"_

"_Less painful for him? The hell you talking about?"_

"_You can see it in his eyes, Juzo… it's like he doesn't even have an idea on what's going on around him… he looks too innocent."_

"_Sometimes, I don't really get you Hagakure…"_

"_I don't get both of you."_

* * *

"_It appears that one of you is a lucky specimen today, little brats. I've come across a unique strain in the virus I developed… but don't be afraid. It's not lethal like the disease itself… it's more, interesting to say the least…"_

"_You're going to kill all of us, anyway… why waste that on a little brat? Better use it on yourself instead!"_

"_Kukuku, Juzo Kakei-kun… perhaps you'll be the first one to witness the birth of a new being…"_

"_I have no idea on what you're trying to say, snake-face."_

"_There is no need to. I will show you instead~"_

* * *

"_Uzumaki… what did he do to you?!"_

"_Oh, what do you know? I guess being a jinchuuriki helped him fully adapt to the strain… I expected a few flaws in the results, but… this is far better than what I wanted…"_

"_Oi… why are you looking at me like that? This isn't funny, Uzumaki…"_

"_As I said, Kakei-kun, you shall be the first to see the birth of a new species in this world… Naruto-kun might prove to be my greatest work yet."_

"_Hey! Hey, you idiots! You're just gonna sit there and watch?! Help me, damn it!"_

"_K-Kakei-san…"_

"_Juzo…"_

"_Urrrrgghhhhh…"_

"_Uzumaki, wake the hell up! This isn't you! Don't you even remember me?! Y-You're not— AAAAHHHH!"_

"_Extraordinary. Although I am curious on what other abilities this strain gifted him with…"_

"_S-STOP! PLEASE ST— AAAHHHH!"_

"_W-What is Naruto-san doing?"_

"_AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"_

"_Kakei… he's… gone…"_

"_This is taking me one step closer to my ultimate goal… Sensei is simply an old fool to banish a young boy with a powerful tailed beast inside of him, kukukuku~ I almost pity the village for letting go of a treasure as such."_

"_Urgh…"_

"_N-Naruto just ate… Juzo…"_

* * *

"_Be grateful, at the very least, Naruto-kun."_

GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!

"_I've given you power beyond anything else that you could have imagined."_

I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!

"_But… enjoy this while you can, kukukuku…"_

I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU SNAKE BASTARD!

* * *

_**Let's play the guessing game and I'll let you imagine what happened. This should be fun.**_

_**Goodbye... and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture***_

_**-Lance**_


	2. Graduation

Things haven't changed one bit.

It was the same as each day passing by.

There were many people who liked him, from random civilians in the village to the girls in the academy, and it looked like he could grow his own fan club like his one broody classmate, but that's a story for another time.

He had brown eyes, accompanying long black hair with bangs that framed the sides of his face and a high ponytail that reached his nape. He stood at 5'3 and weighed 46 kg, as well as an the X-shaped scar on his right cheek. His outfit consisted of a white shirt and matching black hoodie, going along with his tan-colored shorts and standard shinobi sandals.

Juzo Kakei walked through the streets with one thing on his mind: _To graduate from the academy and to be a genin_. As he neared his destination, he sensed what seemed to be a familiar chakra signature approaching him from the right.

"Good morning, Juzo-kun!"

He turned his head to the right, seeing a fair-skinned girl with platinum blonde hair and a purple outfit consisting of a high-collared blouse and matching apron skirt. She wore bandages on her abdomen and legs, a pair of hoop earrings, and white arm warmers. Her bangs were framing the right side of her face while the rest of her hair were held up by a ponytail that reached down to her waist.

"Likewise," he replied coolly.

"You're heading to the academy to attend the graduation, right? It's happening today!" said Ino Yamanaka, excitement and determination filling her voice.

Juzo nodded.

"Then… can we go there together? It seems like you need some company going there." she asked with a blush, turning shyly to the side before looking back at him.

Juzo shrugged his shoulders carelessly and continued on his way.

_"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I got his attention on my first try! Beat this, Forehead! HA!" _she thought, immediately catching up to Juzo and walking by his side as they headed for the academy.

"Look at those two…"

"They look like they're in love."

"I mean, aren't they a couple already?"

"Juzo-kun seems like the perfect boy for someone like her…"

Turning his head again, the boy scowled at the sight of the villagers eyeing both him and Ino as they walked, with their number increasing more and more by the second.

"Tch. Don't these fuckers have anything better to do than watch us walk?" he muttered out, almost becoming tempted to run the rest of the way with his hood covering his face.

"Well, I mean… it's not that bad… t-them watching us…" Ino stuttered out, her gaze focusing on Juzo's free right hand. Her hand was shaking, as she was trying to reach out to grab his, in an attempt to calm down her fangirl self, and to possibly annoy her friend/rival even more.

_"Woah, stop right there!" _a voice rang out in her head, stopping her in her move, and causing her to pull her hand back. _"You're being way too fast, girl! You don't want to make him hate you like what Forehead does with Sasuke-kun, right?"_

"Yeah…" she told herself, remembering how her friend/rival, Sakura Haruno and half of the girls in their classroom try to hopelessly chase and fight for Sasuke's feelings, which only resulted in the boy himself avoiding them most of the time. She wouldn't want the same to happen with Juzo, not when she looked like she had a chance with him.

"I don't want Juzo-kun to hate me too." she continued muttering to herself, which drew the boy's attention as he looked towards her.

"Did you say something?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"N-Nothing!" she threw her hands up and quickly shut her mouth, trying to look innocent in front of her crush. Luckily for the blonde, Juzo only threw her a disinterested look before turning his back on her. Ino let out a sigh of relief at that and continued on following the boy to the academy.

"That was close…" she breathed out silently.

* * *

Juzo and Ino eventually arrived at the academy as they saw that only about half of the class have shown up yet.

There was Kiba Inuzuka, a boy wearing a grey jacket with black fur lining around his hood and sleeves while a small white dog was resting on his head. Then there was Shino Aburame, a young man with black hair and sunglasses, and wearing a large white coat that covered half of his face. Next to him was Hinata Hyuuga, a girl with short blue hair with bangs going past her face with pupiless eyes and wearing a large overcoat.

Another person in the class was Shikamaru Nara, a very lazy guy with hair looking somewhat like a pineapple. Beside him was a slightly fat boy with brown hair who was eating chips, his best friend Choji Akimichi.

However, they did spot a spiky raven-haired Sasuke on the first row gazing out the window while surrounded by his horde of horny fangirls.

"Juzo-kun is here!"

Another girl screamed and almost on instinct, the other half of the girls that were present so far had surrounded the person mentioned, similar to Sasuke's situation. However, Juzo paid it no heed and simply made his way to the back of the room as if he was completely alone.

Meanwhile, Ino was stuck in her spot by the door, looking pissed. _"Damn it! There goes my one chance of sitting beside Juzo-kun! Why can't fangirls like her keep their mouth shut just for once?!" _she thought to herself as she slumped down at a table on the second row, unaware of what she just said about others included her own self.

As Juzo made his way to his desired place, the fangirls that surrounded him soon found themselves butting heads with Sasuke's own, throwing insults at one another about who was the hotter guy.

"Sasuke-kun is the best and you can't change that!"

"Juzo-kun is better than Sasuke-kun and you know it!"

"Nobody even knows who he is in some parts of the village!"

"Well, Sasuke-kun doesn't even notice any of you!"

The girls' back-and-forth banter was being watched by none other than Sasuke, who turned his head from the window for the first time and Juzo, who stopped in his tracks to figure out what was happening behind him.

Both shook their heads in annoyance and tried to pry away their attention to something else, which only resulted in them locking eyes with one another.

Black met brown as they stared each other down, looking as if they were about to fight each other. At the same time, the horde of fangirls had noticed their two crushes staring dangerously at each other, causing them to stop and to surround them both again out of excitement. Perhaps this would settle it? If Sasuke and Juzo fight, they would finally know who was the better one between them!

The room became silent for the next few moments, with everyone turning their heads to the far end of the room where Juzo and Sasuke were preparing for an impending fight between them. The atmosphere was becoming tense and just when it looked like they were about to lunge at one another…

They shrugged.

"Not worth it." Sasuke breathed out, closing his eyes and staring back at the window.

"Indeed," said Juzo as he continued on his way to the last row to take his seat.

Almost out of instinct, the horde of girls had burst into anime tears, including Ino, since they didn't see their crushes duking it out in a fight. It was probably for the best though, as there's no guarantee if they would still be conscious once they see how cool the two boys would look if it happened.

Soon after that little altercation, the classroom started filling with the rest of the students and then a few minutes later, Iruka Umino walked through the door. He was a man of average height wearing black pants and a standard chuunin flak jacket. He had brown hair tied in a ponytail and a long scar across his nose.

"Good morning, class." he said, yet failing to get their attention when he noticed that it was still noisy inside the room. He then cleared his throat and used his patented Big Head Jutsu, yelling out **"SILENCE!"**.

The classroom immediately became silent afterwards as Iruka sat down behind his desk and started calling out his students to mark their attendance. Once he finished his list, he stood back up and looked at everyone in the room.

"As you all know, today is your graduation exam. This will be the culmination of everything that you have learned throughout your days in the academy. Those who pass the exam at the end of the day will become official shinobi of the Leaf. We will start with the written exam, followed by weapons, taijutsu and lastly ninjutsu."

As Iruka finished, his assistant Mizuki walked through the door holding all of the exam papers and placed them down on the desk.

"Now lets begin. You have 45 minutes to answer everything." Iruka said and started handing out the exams to everyone with some assistance from Mizuki. After only 20 minutes, Juzo was already done and looking down, he noticed that Sasuke had finished his exam as well.

Noticing someone was staring at him from behind, Sasuke quickly turned around and locked eyes with Juzo once again. The two stared at each other for a few moments before rolling their eyes at the same time then turning their attention back to the exam.

"Okay class, time's up. I don't want to see anyone answering their papers now." Iruka announced, prompting Mizuki to get up and collect the exams. Afterwards, the whole class moved to the training field for the weapons exam.

"Alright everyone, here you have 10 kunai and 10 shuriken each. You must throw them and be able to hit all of the targets. You will be graded based on the number of targets that you hit as well as your precision." Iruka explained and started calling out each student for the evaluation.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Iruka eventually called out and half of the girls there was cheering for their crush while the other half were doing their best to demoralize Sasuke with boos in whatever he was about to do.

Sasuke picked up the weapons and expertly threw them all at the same time like the elite he was. Every kunai hit the dummies dead center as well as the shurikens except for one that was located high in a nearby tree. "Well done Sasuke, you scored 19 out of 20." Iruka said and the boy's fangirls went wild.

Meanwhile, Sasuke seemed to be grumbling about something as he went back to his place. "Tch, I still can't get that last one…" he muttered to himself quietly.

"Kakei Juzo!" Iruka called out and as if it were a signal, a mysterious figure appeared just at the academy, hiding from everyone else while watching what was going on in the training field.

"Try not to overdo it, Juzo-kun~" the figure said.

Juzo took a new batch of weapons from Mizuki and looked at all of the targets that were surrounding him, memorizing their positions in his mind while ignoring his noisy fangirls that were giving him various praises by the second. He took a deep breath and jumped high into the air as he threw all of the weapons at the same time.

As he landed back on the ground, almost everyone jaw-dropped at seeing the kunai and shuriken hitting all the targets dead center.

Iruka's eyes widened. He knew that Juzo was a quiet person like Sasuke but he never knew that he was _this _skilled; perhaps he was even better than the Uchiha.

"G-Good job Juzo, you got a perfect score of 20 out of 20" Iruka congratulated him, to which the young man responded with a silent nod as he went back to his place. His fangirls went wild as well, while Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow at him in both curiosity and slight interest.

As soon as Iruka finished the rest of the class with their turns, they moved to the taijutsu exam. "For this exam, you must hold your ground against Mizuki for 2 minutes or you can force him out of the circle to win. Mizuki won't go on the offensive very much but be prepared for any tricks up his sleeve."

As he went through every student in the class, most of them were able to hold their own although some students chickened out and lost their chance. When it was finally Sasuke's turn, Mizuki threw up the match and let himself be forced out of the circle to guarantee the Uchiha's victory, much to the chagrin of his fangirls.

"Kakei Juzo!" Iruke called out.

Said boy stepped forward into the circle and stood opposite to Mizuki. He eyed his opponent up and down quickly and simply kept his cool by keeping his arms behind him, not bothering to use a fighting stance.

"Don't you underestimate me, brat." Mizuki growled out, but Juzo gave him the finger to shut him up, causing most of the class to laugh. Mizuki only gritted his teeth in anger while Iruka sweat-dropped.

From afar, the mysterious figure giggled as he watched Juzo looking bored. "Just don't kill him, _Juzo-kun~_" he licked his lips in anticipation.

"Do you even know what you're doing? You poor dobe…" Sasuke said in a rare moment of smugness, getting laughs from his fangirls as well as a few more students in the class.

"Hajime!" Iruka said and immediately Mizuki shot forward with his left fist in rage. Juzo waited until he was mere centimetres away from him before he moved to the side and grabbed Mizuki's arm with his left one, slamming him down to the ground.

Holding him in place with his right knee, Juzo grabbed ahold of his other arm and slowly joined his hands together, locking Mizuki in a devastating double armbar. Mizuki screamed in pain as he felt his joints being manipulated that he felt like he was suffering from a fracture.

"Submit." Juzo said with narrowed eyes.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that, brat!" Mizuki said as he helplessly tried to squirm out of his current position.

Juzo calmly took a deep breath and applied more pressure to Mizuki's arms, nearly snapping his bones as he drove his knee deeper into his back, causing the man to scream louder in agony.

"ARRGHHH, I SUBMIT!" Mizuki screeched out, unable to take it anymore. Juzo let out a sigh of relief as he let go of Mizuki's arms and stood up, walking back into his place like a real badass with everyone staring at him in amazement, as he just passed the taijutsu exams by simply making his opponent give up fighting.

"HE CHEATED!" one of Sasuke's fangirls, Sakura Haruno, screeched out loudly that made nearly everyone cover their eyes. His other fangirls followed after that, but nobody was paying attention to them whatsoever.

"That was pretty cool." said Kiba in awe, with the white dog on top of his head nodding in agreement.

"You're going to be troublesome." said Shikamaru, placing his hand on his hip lazily.

_"What kind of taijutsu was that? He easily made a chuunin give up in a fight? And it doesn't even look like he was trying. I need to learn how to do that as well… it will help me in my mission to kill my brother." _Sasuke thought grimly, walking towards Juzo.

Juzo turned his head as soon as he noticed a presence coming his way. "Can I help you?" he asked, looking at Sasuke straight in the eye.

"That fighting style you used against that man… I want you to teach me how to do it." Sasuke stated bluntly.

"Well, isn't this surprising? The almighty Uchiha asking for help… why should I even teach you? What is your goal? Why do you want to learn it?" Juzo retorted, causing Sasuke to scowl.

"Just teach me. I need to learn it to become stronger."

Juzo placed his hands inside his pockets and raised an eyebrow. "What for? Why do you need to become stronger? From what I've seen, you're strong for someone your age. All you need to do is train, but you can do it by yourself."

"Tch…" Sasuke growled out, looking to the side. The dobe was basically asking him why he wanted to learn from him, and that meant that he has to tell him about his goal to kill Itachi.

Now Sasuke was confused.

On one side, he wanted to tell him and just get this over with to be able to train and on the other hand, he wanted to keep what he preferred to be a secret solely to himself. The Uchiha didn't know what to do until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Sasuke quickly turned his head to see Juzo just beside him, staring straight into his eyes again.

"It seems like you need time for yourself to think it over… I won't teach you until you earn some guts to tell me why you want to learn. Once you tell me your goal, then we'll talk." Juzo told him as he let go of Sasuke's shoulder, walking over to one of the trees nearby so he could lean on them and rest.

Sasuke simply narrowed his eyes, wondering what he should do now.

Iruka gave Mizuki ten minutes to recover from his match with Juzo, with the former mumbling about gaining more power the whole time. Afterwards, the taijutsu exams continued for the next hour and once Iruka had gotten over everyone in his class, they all went inside their classroom for the ninjutsu portion.

"Kakei Juzo!" Iruka called out and Juzo made his way down the stairs, standing in front of the classroom facing his sensei, a scowling Mizuki, and the Third Hokage himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

This time, the mysterious figure that was watching them during the taijutsu portion was just outside the window, looking at Juzo hungrily. "Show them who's the best, Juzo-kun!" he grinned.

"Juzo, please perform the Henge no Jutsu." Iruka said and with that, there was a poof of smoke and as it cleared, a man that was familiar to all of them appeared before them. The man was none other than the Fourth Hokage himself, Minato Namikaze.

Hiruzen raised his head slightly, looking genuinely impressed with this boy. He had accepted Juzo into the village years ago after an ANBU brought him back and based on Iruka's constant updates, he was one of the best that the academy had to offer with his consistently high grades. Now things were finally coming full-circle with the young man in front of him.

"W-Well done, Juzo-kun." Iruka said in slight surprise before continuing with the exam. "Now get ready for the Substitution Jutsu." Iruka picked up a blunt kunai and threw it at Juzo, who quickly acted and switched places with a nearby chair.

"So far, so good Juzo. Now do at least two bunshins to finish your exam." Iruka continued with an impressed look on his face.

Juzo's face turned serious as he quickly went through some hand signs and ended with the Tiger seal. "Bunshin no Jutsu." he said and a large poof of smoke appeared before all of them. As it begun to clear, four exact copies of Juzo stood beside him with the same serious look on all of their faces.

After everyone had gotten through the ninjutsu portion, Hiruzen took his leave as well as Mizuki, leaving Iruka with his students to make an important announcement.

"Okay class, the exams are now over so congratulations are in order to everyone that passed. You may receive your official headbands here but the one who should receive his first… is none other than our rookie of the year, Kakei Juzo!" he announced, gesturing for Juzo to come over to receive his hitai-ate.

The fangirls were all being noisy raining down praises for their crush while the rest of the class simply clapped their hands for the young man in a congratulatory way.

Meanwhile, Sasuke kept quiet in his seat, not bothering to say anything because he was just watching Juzo the whole time. Normally, he would stand up and declare that he was the better shinobi but Juzo's words from earlier haven't left the Uchiha's mind and right now, he was debating with himself if he should let someone in on his personal life.

After all, the burden should be only his to bear, he didn't need someone to interfere with his problems, much less someone whom he didn't know that well.

Despite that, he still wanted to learn what Juzo just did earlier during the taijutsu exam. If he could learn how to fight like that, there would be less people standing between him and his quest for revenge. It would make things easier for him, but this was yet a story for another time.

As Iruka handed the Konoha forehead protector to Juzo, the young man sent him a rare smile that got Iruka to widen his eyes for a brief moment.

Looking down, Juzo gazed at the hitai-ate on his right palm and slowly closed his fist tightly.

_"I've taken my first step in getting my revenge…" _he thought, an evil grin appearing across his face.

* * *

_**Not a lot of things happened but be patient. The interesting parts have yet to come. For now, we know that if Sasuke wants to learn from Juzo, he has to tell him about Itachi. Will he do it or not? Plus, a mysterious figure seems to be stalking Juzo. Who could it be?**_

_**P.S. I'm using Juzo Kakei's name and appearance from the Brave 10 anime. **_

_**Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture***_

_**-Lance**_


	3. True Nature

After everyone had gotten their own forehead protectors, Iruka had dismissed them and told them that one week from now, they would be sorted into several three-man teams led by a jounin teacher in order to become official genin of the Leaf. Most of them were frustrated since they won't get to have their new teams right away, while some shrugged it off and planned to use their free time to train, which included Sasuke Uchiha.

As Juzo walked down the stairs, he noticed that Sasuke was still sitting in his spot, staring out the window. This was a strange scenario, because once Iruka would tell them that they were dismissed for the day, Sasuke would waste no time and head home to train his ass off.

Perhaps he had an answer to his question already?

Worth a try.

He approached the Uchiha's desk and cleared his throat to get his attention. "Have you made up your mind yet, Sasuke?" he asked bluntly, just like how the latter spoke to him earlier.

Sasuke sent a small glare to his direction for distracting him from his moment of peace and tranquility, before clasping his hands in front of him and then bringing them up next to his face. "No." he said, shaking his head in denial.

As soon as heard his quick but meaningful answer, Juzo was about to leave when he heard Sasuke's voice once more.

"Give me until next week. I'll decide by then." Sasuke explained, looking back towards Juzo. "I'll try doing what you did by myself and if I really can't learn to do it, I'll tell you what you want to know and you give me what I want."

"Whatever you say." Juzo shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way out the door, with Sasuke keeping his eye on him as he left.

* * *

"Juzo-kun, please go out with me!"

"No, don't listen to her! Go out with me instead!"

"Please, just one date Juzo-kun!"

The dark-haired boy was doing his best to ignore the fangirls that were getting in his way, since he wanted to just get out of the damn place and go home.

Eventually, Juzo had gotten out of the academy and decided to fill his stomach as since he was feeling a bit hungry and surely his roommate back in his apartment would want to celebrate him becoming a shinobi, even if he didn't want to. This would save his roommate the trouble of buying food for them later on.

_"I hope she doesn't mind something Ichiraku's… but I can always buy her favorite when I get home. Been a while since I ate the food of the gods… I've been focused training a lot recently."_ Juzo told himself, allowing a smile to appear on his face in a rare moment of happiness.

The young man was on his way to Ichiraku's Ramen when he sensed someone running through the woods nearby. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he looked around him if there was someone nearby and once he was sure that he was alone, Juzo rushed into the woods to investigate what he just heard.

* * *

Mizuki was running through the woods with a large scroll on his back, unaware that he was being tailed by somebody else. When he felt that he was finally far enough from the academy, he stopped on a tree branch and took the scroll from behind him.

"With the scroll of seals, Orochimaru-sama will give me power beyond anything I can ever dream of…" Mizuki thought out loud with a wicked grin on his face.

At the mention of the name "Orochimaru", Juzo's face already darkened, with his hair shadowing his eyes that barely hid the anger he felt inside. He was hiding on the upper branches of one of the trees in the area, so he was able to hear everything that Mizuki just said. So this bastard knew something about Orochimaru? Killing him now would bring him another step closer to his goal and plus, the Leaf can dispose of another traitor hidden among their ranks.

_"I NEED TO FIND OUT IF HE KNOWS WHERE THAT SNAKE BASTARD IS HIDING!"_ Juzo nearly screamed out, about to charge and make this quick when all of a sudden Iruka appeared in front of Mizuki, also making the boy freeze in his place._ "I-Iruka-sensei? Wait, does he know where I am?"_

"Mizuki, how could you do this? You just betrayed the Leaf, your own village." Iruka said, unable to understand how his close friend could betray his home and steal an artifact belonging to the Hokage.

"The answer is simple, Iruka. I want power and once I give Orochimaru-sama this scroll, he'll give me more power than the both of us can think of." Mizuki smirked, tapping on the scroll that he had stolen.

"If that's how it is, then so be it." Iruka sighed sadly as he pulled out a kunai. "I have no choice but to fight and capture you here, my friend. You are nothing more than a traitor in my eyes now!"

"Then let's see what you've got, old friend." Mizuki said, throwing the scroll behind him and pulling out a couple of shurikens before throwing them at Iruka, yelling** "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" **The shurikens multiplied into more copies of itself and became a total of 20. Iruka was frozen in place out of hesitation and ended up pinned against a tree on the ground, barely conscious. Mizuki jumped down and took out a fuuma shuriken and made it spin, before rushing towards Iruka to end him once and for all.

_"Is this the end for me? What a stupid way to die… I didn't even get a chance to attack, but at least…"_ An image of a blonde-haired kid that he was quite fond of appeared in his mind, smiling during what seemed to be the last time he ever saw the brat._ "I'll be able to see my parents… and Naruto… again."_ Iruka smiled softly and closed his eyes, accepting his doom.

"This is the end, Iruka!" Mizuki screamed out, about to throw the fuuma shuriken only to be stopped in place when he heard a voice from behind him.

"The Shadow Clone technique, a B-rank kinjutsu that is considered a kage-level technique requires a large amount of chakra to perform, but is extremely helpful against hordes of enemies." Juzo read the contents of the scroll out loud, all while sending a dangerous look in Mizuki's direction.

"You damn brat… you just can't stop interfering in my plans, can't you?" Mizuki snarled, now turning his attention to the raven-haired boy.

"Then fight me like the man you are, fucker." Juzo growled out in the same tone of anger as Mizuki, glaring hard at the man in front of him as if he was about to lose it.

"Tch. Prepare to die, brat!" Mizuki screamed, charging towards Naruto with his fuuma shuriken with a large amount of killing intent. Unfortunately for him, Juzo was much quicker as he rushed forward as well, ducking the incoming attack before delivering a punch straight for Mizuki's gut.

Time appeared to have stopped as Mizuki widened his eyes in shock, slowly turning his head towards Juzo's face below him as he spat out a handful amount of blood, before being blown away by the boy's monstrous strength.

Mizuki crashed against a tree feeling most of his bones cracking as a result. He felt like he couldn't even move! "W-What was that? How did he… get so strong… all of a sudden?" he grunted in pain, trying to reach out for the fuuma shuriken that was just lying in front of him.

"Finally…" Mizuki immediately looked up to see Juzo walking towards him with a sinister look on his face, which was completely different from how he usually looked like.

"Here I have someone who knows something about Orochimaru… and he's nothing but a traitor…"

Mizuko finally reached the fuuma shuriken and aimed it at Juzo, attempting to threaten the boy. "Stay back! I'll kill you if get any closer, brat!" he screeched out, unable to move properly due to the internal damage done to his abdominal area.

"You've got it all wrong…" Juzo raised his right arm as it shifted into larger three-fingered one-thumbed knife-like claws with dark red and black colors. Mizuki's eyes widened in fear as he looked at Juzo's arm change into such a form that his whole body was now shaking. "I'm the one who's going to kill you." he whispered coldly, grinding his claws into another tree that terrified Mizuki all the more.

"Stay back, you monster! I warned you!" Mizuki blindly threw the fuuma shuriken and Juzo was able to dodge it easily just by tilting his head to the side. The man shivered in fear when a feral grin appeared on Juzo's face.

"Monster… I've been called by that name way before this." Juzo finally reached Mizuki as he grabbed him by his neck and lifted him off the ground with his left arm. The man tried to pry away from his grip, but he was losing life fast due to the boy's strength. Knowing that he was nearing his end, he used the last of his strength to mutter out something.

"W-Who… a-a-are… y-you…" he murmured, losing more of his strength.

Juzo leaned in close to Mizuki's ear. "I'm your worst nightmare, bastard." he growled out before driving his claws through the man's stomach and proceeded to consume his biomass, momentarily turning into Mizuki before going back to his natural form as Juzo, with his right arm already back to normal.

Mizuki was now gone and Juzo grabbed his forehead before leaning against a tree, as the man's memories were flooding throughout his mind. He tried to search through all of his memories the ones that directly involved Orochimaru, but all he got was an encounter between Mizuki and the snake bastard, in which the latter gave him some kind of seal on the neck through biting his skin.

"Son of a bitch! He didn't know shit!" Juzo shouted in frustration as he punched the tree trunk he was leaning on. "But don't think I'll stop here, you snake bastard… I'll find you one way or another…"

That was when he noticed the few puddles of blood on the ground, causing him to quickly turn his head towards where Iruka was. Seeing his sensei about to wake up, he went through a set of hand seals and spat out a stream of water to cleanse the blood off the ground.

After making sure that no traces of blood could be found anywhere, Juzo quickly went back to the scroll that Mizuki had stolen and closed it, before heading towards Iruka just in time as he opened his eyes.

"Are you okay, Iruka-sensei?" Juzo asked. Despite having a serious exterior, Iruka was one of the few people that Juzo genuinely cared about in the village, and he wasn't known to be that much of a social person.

"Juzo? What happened?" Iruka replied, rubbing his eyes as he shifted in his position before memories of what just transpired earlier filled his mind. "Mizuki! Juzo, have you seen Mizuki?! I need to stop—!" he stopped in his own words because of the wounds he had sustained.

"Iruka-sensei, he got away." he lied, causing his teacher to widen his eyes in both shock and fear. "B-But I did get this back from him," he showed Iruka the scroll behind him, which was the same one that Mizuki had stolen earlier before he lowered his head in apology.

"I wasn't able to catch him, sensei. Forgive me," he muttered loud enough for Iruka to hear.

"That's fine, Juzo. If anything I should be sorry. If I didn't hesitate to attack earlier, I could've caught up to him." Moments later, two ANBU members have arrived on the scene and they were about to take the both of them to the Hokage when Iruka spoke once more.

"Wait. Juzo-kun has nothing to do with this incident." Iruka explained as he was supported by one of the ANBU up on his feet. "He was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time when it happened."

"But we were asked to bring the two of you to Hokage-sama." the one who was holding Juzo by his shoulders said, who bore long purple hair underneath her mask.

"I'll talk to him personally regarding this matter. I think we should let the boy be on his way home, he's seen enough for today. If Hokage-sama insists on seeing him however, then you can go to his home and pick him up there." Iruka said, silently hoping that they would be understanding enough to let Juzo go home.

The ANBU with purple hair turned her head to the one holding Iruka, who had short brown hair underneath his mask. After a few seconds, they nodded at the same time as the female ANBU let go of Juzo.

"Very well. Let's be on our way then." she said, picking up the Scroll of Seals that was lying on the ground. Juzo simply stared at them as they left, noticing that Iruka sent him a smile before jumping into the tree branches above.

_"I feel bad for lying to Iruka-sensei… but I don't want him to be involved in my problems."_ Juzo reminded himself as he stared at his hand before enclosing it into a fist. _"But I do hope that there are no flaws around what I said… otherwise I'm caught… especially if Jii-chan takes this incident seriously."_ he shook his head as he continued on his way, heading towards Ichiraku's Ramen to buy himself something to eat.

* * *

"Tadaima! (I'm home)" Juzo called out as he entered the apartment unit, closing the door behind him. He was carrying a bag filled with dango, a few ramen packs and barbecue strips, indicating that he had just went shopping for food.

"Don't you know how to knock?" a woman in front of him asked in a sarcastic way, crossing her arms and smiling fondly.

She was a fairly tall woman with a slender frame and light brown, pupil-less eyes. Her purple hair is styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. She wore a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs and a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam and a pocket on each side. She also wore dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. Along with her hitai-ate, she also had a small pendant that looks like a snake fang and a wristwatch. She was Anko Mitarashi, a tokubetsu-jounin of Konoha who was also a member of the ANBU for a time.

"You and I both know we're the only ones living here. The neighbors are gone because you're so fucking loud at night." Juzo retorted, smirking slightly as he took off his forehead protector.

"And who's responsible for that happening? Besides, I love how rough you are." Anko teased with a sly grin, which honestly got Juzo to blush and widen his eyes for a moment.

"S-Shut up. Let me rest for a while." he turned his head away and sat down on the couch, placing the plastic bag that he was holding on the table in front of him before he leaned back and let his body relax.

"You look like you took your time. What did you do after the graduation? I headed home after I lost sight of you when Iruka dismissed your class." she asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I ate at Ichiraku's, then went out to buy food. If I didn't, you would've dragged me to the dango stand to buy your favorite." Juzo said, pointing to the plastic bag before him.

"Wow, how sweet of you to remember!" Anko chirped, her eyes transforming into hearts when she saw her favorite dango among the food that her companion had bought for her. "But…" her tone changed from being cheerful into being slightly serious.

"I know something's wrong with you. I can see it in your eyes, you know. Tell me what happened." she implored, crossing her arms and sighing deeply. "Was it those stupid fangirls chasing after you? That emo Uchiha kid? Random villagers? You can tell me, I'm available."

"I'll talk about it later. Just let me rest for a while… I might get angry with you because of it." he shook his head, looking up at the ceiling as he remembered his earlier encounter with Mizuki.

"You know…" Anko chuckled, removing her overcoat which left her in just her skirt and body suit. "I have a reputation in the prison for being able to make any man fall for my charms… do you want to test that out right here?" she sent him a seductive wink, slowly making her way towards him.

"Don't you dare —" Juzo tried to protest, only to be silenced when Anko pressed her finger against his lips, before she made herself comfortable on his lap.

"You forgot something, by the way." she reminded, and Juzo raised an eyebrow at her statement. She leaned closer to his ear and the young boy's face turned red when he felt her large breasts pressing against his chest. "I like you better as the real you," she whispered closely, licking his earlobe afterwards.

Juzo shivered once he felt her tongue make contact with his skin but once he was about to make a move himself, Anko had pulled away with a smirk on her face, while waving her finger at him playfully.

"You're not getting anything until you're back to your real self. I refuse to do anything with your disguise. It's not the same." she told him as Juzo scowled at her, but Anko simply kept her composure.

Without warning, Juzo's entire form started to shift in a mixture of dark red and black colors yet amazingly, Anko wasn't affected whatsoever by this weird transformation. Moments later, her smirk grew larger as she now looked at the boy she was currently straddling.

He had spiky blonde hair just like his father and blue eyes, while inheriting the shape of his mother's eyes and face. He was wearing the same clothes as earlier but his most prominent characteristic were three whisker markings on his cheeks.

It was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, in the flesh.

"Now, do you think you can tell me what's been bothering bothering you, _Na-ru-to-kun_?" she asked playfully, adding emphasis on her last word as she leaned her forehead against his, giving him a soft kiss right between his eyes that made the boy blush cutely in response.

Naruto sighed, deciding to give in and just tell Anko everything that happened. This woman surely knew how to distract him from his problems and make him feel better at the same time.

It's been that way for four years, anyway.

* * *

_**I told you things will be interesting. Just a little note, Naruto/Juzo and Anko are both 5'4 with Naruto taller just by a little margin. What's gonna happen next chapter? Hohoho, Naruto explaining? Hiruzen making an appearance? A lemon? Sasuke making his decision? Take a guess!**_

_**Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture***_

_**-Lance**_


	4. Eye on the Prize

_**DarthTenibris2: Nobody asked you to read it, fucker. Get a life.**_

_**draxon: Read and find out :) **_

* * *

"How much did you see earlier?" the boy who was known as "Juzo" earlier spoke as he took a sip from the cup of ramen that he was holding.

"I got there when you were all outside for your taijutsu exams." Anko replied while her attention was focused towards cooking. She wore a purple apron over her body suit and her hair was let down, which was different than her usual look. "You did a good job beating down that Mizuki, even I winced a bit when I heard a few of his bones crack. He's always been a prick in my eyes and honestly, he's been acting weird lately from what I noticed."

With those words, Naruto was tempted to tell her about Mizuki being a secret follower of Orochimaru all along, but he decided to wait for the right opportunity to mention it.

"And then? After the taijutsu exams, what did you do?" he continued, his face looking blank as he stared into the open space in front of him.

"Well, I watched you go through the ninjutsu exams after that fiasco. You did pretty good with it as well, blondie. And then after Iruka gave your forehead protectors, I tried looking for you to say congratulations but I couldn't find you." Anko said, turning towards Naruto for a moment to send him a grin and a thumbs-up.

"I see." Naruto then gulped down the remaining contents of his ramen before setting down his cup on the table, leaning back against the chair afterwards.

Now it was his turn to talk.

"Where did you run off to, by the way?" Anko asked, finally finished with cooking as she prepared two bowls for her and Naruto.

"Avoiding the usual annoying fangirls." Naruto replied, shrugging his shoulders carelessly. He decided to leave the part regarding Sasuke for another time, since he hasn't received an answer from the Uchiha yet.

"Oh, so that's why I didn't see you anywhere! That's another good job for you then!" Anko exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder with a huge smile on her face before she handed the boy his bowl of rice with barbecue and went on to sit at the couch opposite to Naruto. "Then? What happened after you got away?"

"I noticed someone running through the nearby woods and decided to take a look," Naruto explained as he began to eat. Anko's cheerful expression somewhat became more serious, now realizing that this conversation was going to a different direction. "I saw Mizuki running away from the academy with a scroll on his back. He was going to deliver the scroll to Orochimaru." Naruto glared at the floor as he finished his little explanation.

Anko widened her eyes upon hearing Naruto mention the name of the person she hated the most. Like the blonde, she had developed a deep hatred for Orochimaru throughout her life but it was also the reason why Naruto and her could understand each other, and it was what led to the both of them living together for several years.

"What scroll was it?" Anko asked through narrowed eyes, with all traces of her happy-go-lucky self earlier gone in a snap.

"He said it was the Scroll of Seals, and once he delivers it to _Orochimaru-sama_, he'll grow stronger." Naruto spat out, setting his bowl down before crossing his arms in annoyance.

Anko shook her head for a few times before speaking again. "Wait, how did he get it in the first place? That seal is the property of the Hokage, so it has to be guarded by a few ANBU or something!"

"While Jii-chan was busy reading through his _personal_ Icha Icha collection, Mizuki snuck into the tower knocked those ANBU guards out, which led him to stealing the scroll without a trace of security on his tail." Naruto revealed with a smirk on his face, as if he knew exactly what happened at the time of the incident.

Anko's eyes widened once more. "How did you— wait a minute. Did you —?"

"I did." Naruto answered with a small nod, knowing just what she was going to ask him. To prove his point, he shape-shifted into Mizuki's appearance for a few seconds before reverting back to his original self.

"Did you find anything useful in his memories then? Like… that snake bastard's location right now?" the woman asked in a voice filled with slight hope, as it was one of her goals in life to kill the man who had both trained and cursed her as a child.

"Nope. The fucker didn't know anything at all." Naruto replied in a firm voice, standing up from the couch to get himself some water. "The only encounter he had with Orochi-bastard was when he received the same seal like the one near your neck. After that, there's nothing more I could find."

As Naruto sat back down on the couch, Anko set down her own bowl and instead ate some of the dango that Naruto had bought for her. "What exactly happened when you caught him running away?" she asked.

He began to eat through his meal again. "Iruka-sensei caught up to him and wanted answers. And then Mizuki caught him off guard after that and he was about to kill him, but that was when I stepped in. I couldn't let him kill Iruka-sensei…" Naruto stopped in his words and looked down on his hand, remembering how Iruka was close to death earlier. He was one of the few people that Naruto deeply cared about, whether he was Juzo or not.

Before anything else though, he felt Anko's arm wrap around him as she pulled him close to her. She was now just sitting beside him with a warm smile on her face, telling him silently that she was there for him.

"Go on," she urged him to keep talking.

Naruto sent her a quick look before he sighed and continued to explain. "Then I stepped in and quickly dealt with him since I was dying to know if he had a lead on where Orochimaru is, but since life hates me, he just had to know nothing about the snake crap." he finished both his explanation and his food, removing Anko's arm from him as he went to the sink and left his empty bowl there.

"Wait, what happened to Iruka then?" Anko asked, biting through the last of her dango with a confused look on her face.

"He's good, and he's probably talking to Jii-chan right now. I had to clean up some blood left when I consumed Mizuki, but don't worry. I'm sure Iruka-sensei didn't notice anything when he woke up since he was unconscious." Naruto assured her as he washed his used bowl and chopsticks before placing it on the dish rack.

"That's it? That's all that happened?" she asked, wanting to make sure that she got all the details. Out of everyone in the Leaf Village, it was only her who knew of Naruto's presence inside the place, but that is yet a story for another time.

Naruto turned back towards Anko and wiped his hands clean. "What else do you want to know? Some ANBU members came to retrieve us because something happened? It's not important and I got away thanks to Iruka-sensei answering for me. If Jii-chan ever wants to talk to me, I'll go to him and explain my side of the story. I already made something up if he asks what happened to Mizuki."

"What of the scroll?" Anko continued to ask, walking over towards Naruto to place her empty bowl in the sink as well, beginning to wash it.

Naruto simply leaned on the kitchen sink behind him and crossed his arms, looking calmer than before. "It's safe with Iruka-sensei now, although I was lucky enough to learn a technique when I read some of it earlier." he said with a little smirk, causing Anko to look at him in shock before punching him on the shoulder.

"You idiot! Hokage-sama will kill you when he finds out!" she laughed, becoming satisfied when she saw Naruto chuckling for a moment. The blonde had grown into a more complex but serious individual over the years, and it made her proud of herself whenever she could manage to make him smile or even laugh.

"Ah let him, I'll prove to him that I can do techniques that even the likes of him can perform." he shook his head and sighed deeply, remembering the Shadow Clone Technique that he had read about earlier.

"Naruto." Upon hearing his name, he turned his head towards Anko and noticed the somewhat worried expression on her face. "Are you sure that nobody saw you killing Mizuki? I don't want anyone going after your ass if they ever saw you using your powers, much less see you in a place where you aren't supposed to be."

The blonde teen became quiet for a few moments before he ruffled Anko's hair with his hand and smiled. "Trust me, Anko-chan. You don't have to worry about anything."

Anko surprisingly blushed upon hearing his words, since there have only been a few times where he uses that particular honorific on her, and he always preferred to call her by her name to stay blunt and straight to the point. However, when he does calls her in that way, it means he was either teasing her or simply just being his old lovable self years ago.

"All right, I'll… I'll trust you, Naruto." she said with a smile of her own, finished with washing the dishes she had used.

Naruto nodded and headed to the bedroom that was nearest to them. "I'll be in my room then, and maybe read something I guess… I'm not feeling sleepy but I don't want to just lie down with nothing to do."

As Anko watched him leave, a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes as she smirked. She had an idea in mind and boy, was she going to enjoy this.

_"No doubt blondie would enjoy it too…"_ she said to herself as she headed towards her own room.

**(Hokage Office)**

After the two ANBU members had escorted Iruka to Hiruzen's office, they immediately left at the Hokage's command, which left only the two of them at the office. Almost immediately, Iruka had returned the Scroll of Seals to the old man and Hiruzen accepted it with a stern nod, before setting it aside for now.

"What is your report on the incident, Iruka?" he asked, breathing out a puff of smoke from his pipe.

"Yes, sir. It appears that one of the examiners from the graduation earlier and my childhood friend, Mizuki, was a traitor all this time after he stole the Scroll of Seals from you." Iruka explained, wincing when he felt one of his wounds on his abdomen open up again.

The man was filled with bandages all over his body, as a result of what happened earlier and it was a really good thing that the ANBU members who were with him earlier bothered to patch him up.

"I'll have you sent to the hospital to have your wounds checked after this, you look like you have been scarred for life." Hiruzen smirked at him after his words, doing his best not to laugh as well.

"A-Arigato, Hokage-sama…" Iruka replied, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

Hiruzen chuckled for a moment before he continued in his words. "I have only noticed that the scroll was stolen when another ANBU reported to me that the ones who were guarding the vault were knocked out. How and where did you encounter Mizuki after he had stolen the scroll?"

Iruka grew serious before he cleared his throat. "I noticed his chakra signature when he was running away from the academy, and I grew suspicious since we still had another batch of students who'll undertake the exams, so I decided to follow him into the forest. There, I saw him with the Scroll of Seals and mentioning something about 'Orochimaru giving him more power', and that was when I decided to take appropriate action."

Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly at the mention of his student's name. Back during his adult years, he was the teacher to three children who would soon be regarded as the three legendary "Sannin" of Konoha, one of which was Orochimaru himself until his apparent betrayal and defection from the village.

"You couldn't have called for backup from other shinobi before doing so?" Hiruzen asked, raising both eyebrows.

"I didn't think I needed to, Hokage-sama." Iruka stated bluntly, looking a bit ashamed of himself.

Hiruzen nodded slightly. "I see. Continue on, then."

"I confronted him about his betrayal and asked him why would he betray the village that he grew up in. It appears that he only cared about getting more power and not the village, and he believes that Orochimaru will help him achieve that goal."

"That's not surprising. Orochimaru can simply lure those kinds of people to do what he wants with only his words if he wishes to." Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and looked down, remembering his former student in his mind.

"To continue, Mizuki made no hesitation and attacked me as soon as he could, and I was soon pinned against a tree. I was unconscious, so I had no idea what happened after. But even I was surprised that I was still alive when I woke up."

Hiruzen nodded again and read a piece of document atop his table carefully. "And then according to the ANBU, Kakei Juzo jumped into the scene and confronted Mizuki instead?"

"H-Hai. He said that Mizuki got away, but he was able to recover the scroll from him. Although I'm not sure how, there was no sign of Mizuki indeed when I woke up, but the scroll was with him just like what he said."

Hiruzen rubbed his chin, appearing to be deep in thought. "I find that odd."

Iruka raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean, Hokage-sama?"

"If Mizuki had indeed escaped, I would have noticed through this crystal ball right here." Hiruzen showed him a crystal ball right next to a pile of paperwork before he continued to speak. "Or at least, my shinobis scattered all over the village would be able to notice him running away and inform me as soon as possible, unless he is more skilled in hiding his presence than we thought."

"Hokage-sama… are you implying that Juzo-kun was lying about his words regarding Mizuki's escape?" Iruka looked nervous, but he needed to ask this to be sure.

Hiruzen shook his head and laughed. "I didn't say anything yet, I just find it odd."

"Oh… ahaha…" Iruka rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Juzo-kun did say he would show up if you ever wanted to talk to him, though."

Hiruzen waved him off. "There is no need to do that, the boy just graduated from the academy and confronted a traitor of the village to take back a scroll belonging to the Hokage, I would not give him any further problems. And I would certainly not distract him from whatever he is doing right now by sending ANBU to his apartment."

"But he did say that you could —" Iruka tried to explain, but Hiruzen shook his head in disapproval.

"My word is final, Iruka. Besides, I think Anko-chan would kill me if I send the ANBU to their home." he laughed again, breathing out a puff of smoke from his pipe. "That girl does value her privacy, after all."

Iruka put his hand on his chin and pondered over something for a few moments. "I wonder what Juzo-kun is doing right now, then. I kind of forgotten that he was living with Anko-san ever since he arrived to the village."

Speaking of which…

* * *

The purple-haired woman was bent over the table, completely naked, with the blonde stud pulling on her locks as he pounded deep into her pussy from behind. They had been going at it for half an hour now, but they were enjoying every second of it, just like every other time that they had done this in the past. They had never said the "L" word to each other outright, but instead they let their actions speak for themselves.

Anko wanted him so badly after watching his extraordinary performance in the exams earlier and Naruto needed to relieve his stress after getting frustrated with Mizuki's lack of information. This was almost a regular thing for them, as they would have sex whenever they felt like it, not that they minded it.

And Naruto was only thankful to a certain _**someone **_for making him sterile, allowing him and Anko to fuck like rabbits for hours without having to worry about pregnancy.

"Who do you belong to, woman?" Naruto growled into her ear, giving Anko a rough slap on her shapely rear that nearly made her squeal out her lust.

"I… I belong to you~! I'm yours, Naruto-kun~~!" she moaned loudly, her tongue hanging out in excitement as she looked back at Naruto.

"That's right. You belong to me and _only me_, Anko!" Naruto grinned as he groped her boobs from behind, rolling her nipples between his fingers that made Anko cry out her climax then and there.

"N-NARUTO!" Anko moaned at her loudest as she felt herself get carried off the table by her legs, now being fucked on the air from behind.

"I'm not done, woman! You're going to pay for seducing me earlier!" he licked his lips slowly as she turned her head to look up at him, his blood pumping when he felt Anko's juices all over his cock. Without warning, he dove in to bite her neck in animalistic fashion, and she threw her head back afterwards.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!" she screamed out as loud as she could, not caring even if somebody else would hear her cry of pleasure.

* * *

"He's probably eating ramen for dinner at the moment, after all, it's his favorite food." Hiruzen laughed once more, as an image of a certain blonde-haired boy appeared in his mind. "It reminds me so much of _him_…" the old man sighed and looked down, remembering the boy that he treated like his own grandson.

_"He must be thinking of Naruto." _Iruka thought to himself, causing him to act immediately before this discussion goes out of topic. "I guess that's all you have to tell me then, Hokage-sama?" he asked loudly, making sure that Hiruzen would be able to hear him.

It seemed to be enough for the old man to snap out of his temporary trance, smiling at Iruka for a moment. "Oh yes, that will be all Iruka. You can head to the hospital now, and I will take care of everything else. We still have the team selections for our new genins next week, this matter with Mizuki's betrayal shall be dealt with at another time. The important thing is, the scroll is safe now."

"What about Juzo-kun?" Iruka asked.

"I am not doubting his words regarding Mizuki since if we come to the conclusion that he is a follower of Orochimaru, it is quite possible for him to indeed escape without anyone on his trail. However, I _will _keep an eye on the boy because I am interested to see how he will develop."

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?"

"At his age, if he is able to face off against a chuunin like Mizuki, who is also Orochimaru's follower and be able to handle him while also holding his own, he might make a good ANBU or chuunin in the future. And I was also impressed with his performance in the exams at the academy earlier, to be frank."

Iruka raised both his eyebrows. "What about Sasuke-kun? He also performed well earlier."

"Sasuke-kun has skill, but his mind and thoughts tend to get in the way of him reaching his full potential. Juzo-kun, on the other hand, looks really mature for his age and his skills are on par or perhaps better than Sasuke-kun's. However, that doesn't mean I will not pay attention to Sasuke-kun at all, since he is the only remaining Uchiha in the village. Consider it that they both have my attention from this point onward. Now go tend to your wounds, Iruka. You'll be in pain if you stay any longer."

Iruka bowed his head in respect. "Understood, Hokage-sama. I'll take my leave then."

As Iruka left, Hiruzen breathed another puff of smoke as he turned his head towards the bane of his life: paperwork, which somehow magically got doubled compared to the small pile he saw earlier.

"WWWWWHHHHHYYYYYY?!" he cried with anime tears running down his face.

**(That night; Naruto and Anko's apartment)**

Naruto and Anko were both sleeping peacefully under the covers, naked as the day they were born. After four hours of nonstop sex, they finally decided to stop and take a shower together, before they would retire for the night because Naruto wanted to get up early and continue his training tomorrow and Anko had to take part in a 5-day mission to Kusagakure.

The blonde had an arm wrapped around Anko protectively as he slept, but his eyes immediately opened when he sensed two chakra signatures enter their apartment.

Alarmed by this, he quickly got out of bed while using one of the pillows to substitute for him sleeping with Anko before he put on some clothes.

_"Who the hell has the guts to sneak in here while I'm asleep?" _Naruto thought to himself, opening his bedroom door by a tad bit and peeking through to see what was happening outside.

The two ninjas both had forehead protectors that were different compared to Konoha's, having a musical note as the symbol their hitai-ate, signifying that they were from the Hidden Sound Village. They both had masks over their faces to conceal their identities, yet it seemed like they could see through the dark quite well.

"How long are we gonna stay here? The Hokage might know that we're here and send ANBU after us." one of them said as he had just finished searching through Anko's bedroom.

Another Sound ninja showed up, this time coming from the kitchen. "We were sent here to find and bring Naruto Uzumaki to Lord Orochimaru, that was it. The sooner we find him, the sooner we leave. Now move your ass and check that last room, I'll keep an eye out here and keep an eye on things."

The other one nodded in response as he headed for the next bedroom, but keeping his eye on his companion. "All right, but something tells me that this won't be —" he stopped in his words when he heard the door open on its own and as he looked back at what was in front of him, he was immediately met with a punch to the face that sent him flying to the other side of the apartment.

"IZUKA!" the other Sound-nin nearly shouted, rushing towards his fallen comrade and knelt by his side. "What the hell happened?!" he demanded, looking alarmed since he had his attention towards the balcony of the apartment just earlier.

Although shaking, the man called "Izuka" raised his finger to point towards the bedroom he came across earlier and as the other one turned his attention there, they were both met with the sight of Naruto Uzumaki with his Claws activated, looking ready to kill some bastards.

Naruto grinned darkly as he cracked his knuckles. "So that snake crap sent you guys to bring me to him? I'm honored…" he whispered.

"It's… him…" Izuka whispered in fear, with blood coming out of his mouth just from the strength of Naruto's punch.

"I'll bring you two with me when I go to kill him… after I put your bones in a sack!" Naruto roared out, lunging for his prey.

* * *

_**So two Sound-nins are after Naruto, will they succeed or not? Ha, we all know they won't. But can Naruto get information from them regarding Orochimaru's location? We'll find out next chapter!**_

_**Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture***_

_**-Lance**_


End file.
